Greece wildfires force evacuations as winds spread blazes

Greece faced new wildfires on Friday as strong winds hampered firefighting, forced evacuations near Athens and led authorities to move people by sea from a coastal village northwest of the capital.

A Civil Protection mobile alert ordered the partial evacuation of part of Haidari, a suburb about 11 kilometres west of central Athens, after a forest fire broke out on a nearby mountain.

Haidari Mayor Michalis Selekos said residents had faced a “huge risk” as the fire moved down the mountain, but more than 100 firefighters had managed to contain it in a ravine. He told state TV ERT that most residents had been able to return home.

Greece's health ministry said more than a dozen patients at a local mental hospital were treated for breathing difficulties.

The fire department said 51 forest and agricultural fires had broken out in the previous 24 hours. Greek officials said wildfires have flared in several parts of the country this week, including on Crete, and three firefighters have died.

Two separate fires broke out in coastal Viotia, about 85 kilometres northwest of Athens. After some people with summer homes ignored an evacuation order, the coastguard and fire department sent vessels to take them away from Agios Vasileios by sea. A local official said about 300 people were evacuated.

In the eastern Peloponnese, nearly 50 firefighters halted a fire before it reached the Bronze Age archaeological site of Mycenae.

On Crete, about 4,500 hectares south of the tourist town of Rethymno were scorched on Wednesday and Thursday, the National Observatory of Athens's weather service said, citing analysis of satellite imagery from the European Union's Copernicus programme.

Greek civil protection said many parts of the country faced a “very high” wildfire risk on Friday, including the Athens region, Crete, numerous Aegean islands and parts of the Peloponnese. Winds of up to 88 kilometres per hour hampered water bombers and disrupted ferry services to tourist islands.

A maximum fire risk alert was issued for Saturday in the greater Athens area, parts of the Peloponnese and Crete, central Greece and the border region with Turkey.